


The Most Punk Rock Thing You Can Do

by Marasa



Category: Deadly Class (Comics), Deadly Class (TV)
Genre: Bisexuality, Bullying, Crushing, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Harry Potter AU, Homophobia, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, M/M, Polyamory, Slow Dancing, soft, the poly relationship we deserve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-15
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-11-18 12:08:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18120536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marasa/pseuds/Marasa
Summary: “Come to the ball with me.”Billy and Lex nearly choke on their spit.





	The Most Punk Rock Thing You Can Do

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired to write this after reading @aliceinadultland’s amazing Harry Potter AU post on tumblr. Thank you so much!!!

“Come to the ball with me.”

Billy and Lex nearly choke on their spit. This is more than unexpected, but everything’s been a little topsy-turvy since the whole TriWizard Tournament thing. 

Get three magic schools together in one place, host a series of dangerous games and organize an extravagant dance?

Disaster.

The boys sitting on the bed look at each other before looking up at Petra. 

“Wh- Which one?” Billy clears his throat. “Of us?” 

The punk animagus looks completely prepared to shrink down into a rat and hide embarrassedly behind Lex if the answer does not, in fact, favor him.

Petra, unaffected by their poorly hidden panic, answers easily: “Both of you.”

They thought they were against this preppy bullshit. They weren’t a part of the mindless masses attending this school. They protested shit like this, but Petra’s looking at them with an uncharacteristic sincerity that has both boys blushing madly while they simultaneously shit their pants. 

“Um, thank you for the consideration, love,” Lex says, “but there is no way I’m going to a bloody ball.”

“This dance is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Lex arches an eyebrow, shakes his head. “As if I give a fuck.”

“I give a fuck!” Billy throws his hands forward and takes Petra’s with all the dramatics of a real gentleman. “I’ll go with you, Petra.”

“If Lex isn’t going,” she says, “then none of us are.”

“What!? No, we can go, just me and you.” Billy’s smile is bright but desperate. 

“Trying to get rid of me?” Lex snaps.

“We’re trying to include you,” Billy spits, “but you’re being ‘too cool for school’.”

“And since when are you so filled with school spirit?” Lex smirks in realization as he turns back to Petra. “You just want to stick it to those Gryffindor preps.”

Petra rolls her eyes, shrugs.

They both catch the way Billy wilts a little, his grip loosening on Petra’s fingers. They both frown. 

The Slytherins had chided their Hufflepuff friend in the past that he was too soft, that the mohawk didn’t mean anything if he was so nice to everyone.

But then Billy would hit them with that, “You must not understand what true punk is,” and they felt like dumbasses because, shit, he was right.

Petra tightens her fingers in his. Billy looks up from his lap with a start.

“You only have a week to get your dress robes,” she says, looking between them. “I’m wearing black. Plan accordingly.”

She leaves them sitting there dumbly, the boys trying to process that this is all actually happening.

Come the next Friday, they’ve collected themselves. They have to meet Petra in thirty minutes downstairs out in front of the Great Hall. Their black dress robes hang atop a bathroom stall nearby as Lex helps Billy style his hair.

“Why’re you so quiet?” Lex says after five minutes of not a single word spoken.

Billy bites the inside of his cheek, his eyes flickering to Lex’s in the reflection of the mirror. “Nervous.”

“Of what?”

“Tonight’s important to me,” Billy murmurs, embarrassed. “I like Petra.”

The hair under Lex’s hands is soft. He styles it to its utmost height with the help of some hair wax. A part of Lex can’t believe he’s doing this, can’t believe that any of this is happening, but there’s another part of him that feels the same as Billy.

This weird feeling of ‘nervous hopefulness’ confuses him and makes him feel as invincible as it does nauseas.

“Don’t be nervous,” Lex murmurs. “If it goes tits up, I’ll be there.”

Billy stares at Lex through the mirror. His gaze has the punk sweating a little.

“You like Petra too,” Billy says like he can clearly see it, “don’t you?”

Lex scoffs. He pulls a face. But then his mocking expression melts into something serious and unsure just a few seconds later. 

Does he like Petra? 

It’s more complicated than that. 

Because Lex does like her, has pretty much always liked her, but he also feels something around Billy, like how right now he can’t keep his hands from moving through his hair even though he’s finished styling it, how he can’t help but admire how Billy’s shorter than him when he’s so close in front of him, how his stomach flutters annoyingly when Billy looks so shy in the reflection of the mirror.

“It’ll be fine,” Lex says as he takes his hands from Billy’s hair. “Now hurry up and get dressed so we can get this over with.”

Their formal wear is dreadfully lacking in personality and feels more like a suffocating uniform of conformity than ‘nice’. Lex remedies this fact by pinning a few buttons of muggle punk bands onto his lapel and ripping a few holes into it just to secure them with safety pins. 

He’s so preoccupied with defacing his attire that he doesn’t notice Billy emerge from the bathroom stall. 

“Do I look okay?”

Lex turns. He immediately forgets how to breathe.

Billy looks more than okay. He looks absolutely… dashing. 

His black robes hit the top of his ankles to reveal, no, not dress socks but a pair of white socks tucked into a pair of skating shoes. The way his collar is cut compliments the shape of his face and slips a little to reveal a pale peek of the juncture of his neck and shoulder when he looks away to save himself the embarrassment. 

Lex goes to say ‘fuck yes,’ but chokes on his words. He settles for a clumsy nod.

They arrive downstairs on time, which is unusual for them. The corridors are awash with bedazzled and shiny couples filing into the Hall. Lex wrinkles his nose at the pungent cloud of perfume hanging in the air, even going as far to fetch his wand from his pocket and swirl it in the air to create a bubble of fresh air around them.

Billy releases the breath he’s been holding through his mouth. “Thank you, dude.”

The tips of Lex’s ears go hot. He hopes it isn’t noticeable.

“Hey.”

They both turn to the familiar voice. They can’t help but stare open-mouthed at the sight of their friend.

Petra stands before them in a black dress that hugs her figure in the most flattering way. A simple silver necklace hangs off her neck, a single diamond sparkling at the end of it inches above her chest. Her makeup and hair is familiar but it’s altered in such a subtle way that makes her look formal.

Petra blinks unimpressed at their stupid expressions.

Lex clears his throat. “You look-“

“Good,” Billy sputters.

“Yeah.”

“Yup.”

“Thanks...” Petra says, looking between them like she’s trying figure out if they’re truly okay. “You two actually don’t look like shit.”

“Thanks,” they say in unison, then look at each other with the same look of, ‘oh shit, what did we get ourselves into?’

The Hall is bathed in comfortably dim light and decorated with regal theming. The band on stage strum and drum on sleek instruments. A charm has been cast in the room so that patches of the air shimmer with a faint dusting of golden glitter. 

The three of them find an empty table by the wall and sit down just so they can acclimate themselves to this new climate of preps.

As they look around, they begin to catch the sight of familiar faces. 

Saya and her date Willie Lewis laugh as they twist and step around the dance floor in time with the music. 

Poor Saya is one of this year’s TriWizard Champions, though the legitimacy of her admission was suspect. According to her, she hadn’t entered her name at all. 

This fact worried Marcus more than anyone.

He looks worried now and maybe a little jealous where he sits with Maria at a table nearby the dancefloor. It’s like he can’t keep his eyes off of Saya, her sapphire dress catching the light so it glows fleetingly. 

Both Billy and Lex recognize how pretty she looks but one hundred percent agree that Petra is the most beautiful one here tonight. 

“So,” Lex says, “now what?”

It’s meant as a joke, something to break the awkward silence between them. But Petra doesn’t answer, doesn’t even roll her eyes.

Lex recognizes something in her expression that can only be described as a crack in her apathetic resolve. She appears nervous, unsure of not only what to do now but unsure if they should even be here. 

“I’m a little parched,” Lex lies. “I’ll fetch us some punch.”

He gives Billy a nod in silent instruction to do his Hufflepuff thing where he lifts everyone’s spirits.

When he comes back a few minutes later with a cup of punch in each hand and one bitten between his teeth, he’s glad to see Petra talking. 

“What?” Lex says as he sits down. 

“I was saying how I don’t know how anyone dances to this,” Billy says. “It’s so… poppy. You know what they should do? Get these joker’s outta here and let’s get some punk music going.”

“Bloody right,” Lex says. “A pit up front, a bit of crowd surfing, plenty of pogoing and thrashing. Would be worth it just to see the Gryffindors lose their precious little minds. What do you think, Petra, love?”

Petra smirks mid-sip of her punch. 

“If there was pit, I would definitely be up there.”

“So no dancing tonight, then?” Billy asks. 

“I'm good,” Petra says.

Lex expects Billy to wilt once more but he’s actually smiling brightly. 

“That’s fine!” Billy says. “Whatever you feel comfortable with. We just want you to have a good time.”

Lex nods in agreement and there’s that flutter in his stomach again. He downs his punch like a shot.

They talk for nearly an hour at their table. Their chairs are side by side and facing the dance floor but as they get more comfortable, sit sideways in their chairs so they’re facing each other.

“Did you really rip holes in your robes?” Petra asks Lex. Her foot taps his ankle absently. He finds the touch not annoying but calming to him. 

“Well I can’t exactly stroll in here with ‘Fuck You’ tattooed on my forehead, can I?” he says. “I had to improvise.”

Petra hums, looks at Billy who is sitting on the edge of his chair. He’s leaning forward with his elbows on his thighs and his chin resting atop his fists. She reaches out a hand to fix a stray strand of hair that escaped the hold of the wax.

“Why did you let him destroy his robes?”

“As if he would listen to me,” Billy says. Petra’s palm pets the side of his head, not uncommon for her or Lex to do but it feels a little different tonight, softer, more intimate.

“Are you having a good time?” Billy asks. 

They’re shocked to see Petra actually smile. “Are  _ you _ having a good time?”

Billy shrugs. “That depends on your answer.”

“Does it?”

“Mhm.”

Petra’s hand slides down the side of Billy’s face and comes down to hold his chin. His fists slowly lower to his lap as he blinks owlishly at her.

“I guess I’m having an okay time,” she whispers like it’s a secret.

Billy and Lex gulp their nerves back down their throats. 

A shadowy figure towering over them interrupts the sweet moment. 

“So this is the only way the mudblood freaks can go to the ball, huh? All together. Stronger in numbers, isn’t that right, Petra?”

“Go away, Brandy,” Petra growls up at the Slytherin girl.

Brandy’s wearing a frilly, emerald dress, her hair stacked atop her head and fastened with a jeweled clip. Her makeup is a little pale and dramatic, making her almost look like a ghost. 

It’s not like Brandy and Petra have a formal rivalry; Brandy’s pretty much a bitch to everyone.

But the shock of seeing the three most unlikely people actually in attendance tonight must interest and infuriate her. They’re in her sights now and it’s hell getting out of it. 

“Never struck me that you were so easy,” Brandy continues, arms crossed over her chest. “Two boys? Quite scandalous.”

And Petra’s usually whatever about any nasty comment come from someone like Brandy but this time she appears a little taken aback. Her mouth twitches like she wants to say something but she can’t form the words, perhaps doesn’t even know what they are. 

Under her stern mask, Petra appears flustered, anxious, almost… afraid.

“Leave us alone,” Billy says.

“Begone with you,” Lex says with a wave of his hand. “Don’t you have a morgue to haunt?”

Brandy smirks poisonously down at them before directing her attention back to Petra.

“Tell me, Petra, girl to girl- how  _ do  _ you maneuver the fact that not only are you desperate enough to like two boys, but you’re desperate enough to like two boys who like each other? I don’t know, just seems a little confusing to me.” Brandy snickers. “And very embarrassing for you.”

Shit.

So it was that obvious? Lex thought he was doing an okay job being discreet with his feelings, but he guesses not. He feels a little vulnerable. A little panicked. He didn’t want it to happen this way but it’s out in the open now.

Billy looks just as shaken up as him and Petra, she’s already standing from her seat and leaving out of the room. 

“Petra!” Billy says before getting up and chasing after her. 

Protectiveness flares dangerously in Lex’s chest. He stands from his chair so fast that his chair tips over. He glares at a smug-faced Brandy with a tight jaw and flared nostrils.

Suddenly his eyesight is obscured by a broad chest covered in silk robes. 

“Problem, Rat?” a thick Russian accent says. 

Lex looks up at Viktor. He takes a step forward just as the other does, no less than a few inches away from each other now. 

“There’s about to be,” Lex snarls. 

A cane threads between them. It strains against Lex’s chest in an attempt to hold him back. Both boys follow the length of wood to where the Headmaster stands, intimidating and unmoving. 

“Remove yourselves from this situation,” Master Lin warns lowly, “or I will.”

But Lex doesn’t back down, not until Viktor leaves with a huff and an arm around Brandy.

Master Lin’s cane remains pushing against his chest, urging him to leave the other way. Lex doesn’t need the encouragement; he’s already out the door. 

He finds his dates in an empty hallway beside the Great Hall, sitting on the stairs. His heart aches immediately at the sight. 

Illuminated in flickering flame of the candles floating in midair, Petra rests her head in her hands while Billy wraps an arm around her shoulders to keep her tucked safely into his side. 

Lex can’t hear what Billy’s murmuring but it’s soft and considerate and reassuring, and Lex thinks this is love.

He approaches carefully, quietly sitting beside her. Billy looks up at him with a face struck with the deepest empathy.

It breaks Lex’s fucking heart. 

“Love,” Lex whispers. He gently holds his fingers over Petra’s where they hide her face. 

After a few seconds, she emerges. 

And he recognizes the confusion in her face, those same doubts he feels reflected in her slightly teary eyes. It’s all out on the table now. 

Petra knows. 

Billy knows.

Lex knows.

Apparently everyone else knows.

But it’s not about ‘everyone’; it’s about them.

“Fuck what Brandy thinks,” Lex says, his hand still holding Petra’s. “Fuck what anyone thinks. We don’t have to explain ourselves.”

“It’s no one’s business,” Billy mumbles. “We’re allowed to exist, to feel like this, without anyone’s permission.”

Petra’s quiet voice cracks with guilt as much as it does fury and sorrow. “She fucking outed you-“

“No, no,” Billy begs so softly that it briefly makes a lump form in Lex’s throat. “It’s okay. We’re okay.”

“She really had nothing better to do than try and make us feel ashamed?” Petra shakes her head, squeezes Lex’s hand. “For what? Minding our own business?”

“There’s nothing to feel ashamed about,” Lex says.

“Exactly!” Billy says.

Lex smiles at his agency to make Petra feel better.

He weaves their fingers together, strokes her thumb with his. She looks up at him.

“Petra,” Lex says, “love isn’t shameful; it’s the fucking antithesis, just like we are the antithesis of all of society’s bullshit. I’m pretty sure being in love is the most punk rock thing you can do, really.”

“This is my fault,” Petra sighs. “For wanting a night where I felt normal.”

Billy shakes his head. “None of this is your fault, Petra. And normal is so overrated.”

They remain sitting quietly on the stairs for the next few minutes. Lex continues to hold Petra’s hand while Billy strokes her bare shoulder with his fingers. 

They can hear the band begin playing a slow song, as they’re not too far from the Hall.

Suddenly, Billy stands from the stairs. They stare at him. He shifts on his feet. 

“Would you like to dance?”

Petra’s hand tightens in Lex’s. Lex’s heart races. 

“Who are you asking?” Petra murmurs.

“Both of you,” Billy says. 

None of them have slow danced before, much less as a trio. They try their best to not make it look like a group huddle.

Petra slides an arm around each of their necks. Billy and Lex slide one arm around her waist and the other around each other’s waist.

They hold each other, and it feels right, having the people Lex cares about the most in his arms. He wants to keep them close, safe, taken care of.

They sway together to the soundtrack of quiet guitar and crooning vocals, eventually drifting closer together. 

Lex’s left temple rests against Petra’s, Billy’s resting against her right. Her hands hold the back of their heads momentarily before combing down their necks and returning to their shoulders.

Lex’s fingers stroke soothingly at their waists. 

He must squeeze a sensitive spot above Billy’s hipbone because suddenly the punk shivers with a surprised whimper. With his eyes still closed, Billy turns his head and promptly pushes his face into Lex’s collarbone.

Lex’s stomach flips warmly at the reaction. His hand immediately slides up from his boy’s waist to hold the back of his head. His painted fingernails scratch his scalp while his lips murmur words he doesn’t think about, just feels.

“I’m right here, love,” Lex whispers, barely audible against the velvet of Billy’s head. “You’re fine. Billy, Billy. Oh my darling love.”

Petra watches them through eyes lidded with exhaustion and content. Her small smile isn’t lost on him. Lex tightens his grip around her waist, pulling her a little closer against him. 

Lex has never felt such tender infatuation toward any single person but here he is, with two.

“It’s a lot,” Petra whispers. 

Billy nods against Lex, eyes scrunched shut and a deep blush across his face. Lex smiles softly in adoration and on instinct finds himself nuzzling Billy’s temple in an attempt to soothe him.

“I know it’s a lot,” Petra assures the both of them. “That’s why we’re going to take this slow.”

Billy turns his face to her. They lean in together. 

The bridges of their noses meet. Their lips hover above one another. 

But they don’t touch, not yet.

They’re going to take this slow and save that for when they’re not so strung on adrenaline and this confusing mixture of anger and sweetness.

Instead they find refuge in the other’s neck while Lex holds them.

The music trails off. Petra stands up straight. 

Her hands slide across their shoulders and down their chests. When she opens her eyes, they’re both looking at her attentively with dusted crimson cheeks and an intense softness in their features. 

“Stay with me tonight?” Petra asks them and she doesn’t have specify which of them because they understand she means both. 

“Always,” Lex says. 

“Forever,” Billy says.

They smile together and never has a night of cuddling, soft words of love and hand holding ever felt so very punk rock. 


End file.
